Dirty Tackle

Adriano denies shooting a woman after nightclub visit

I don't know about you, but whenever I leave a Rio de Janeiro nightclub in the early hours of the morning, I like to take some ladies home with me and fire a few rounds off on a gun to keep myself entertained during the journey (I call them "car pops"). If police reports are to be believed, I'm remarkably similar to Brazilian striker Adriano, who finds himself in hot water after a bullet from his bodyguard's gun found its way into the hand of a lady accomplice on Christmas Eve.

The Taiwanese animation above is greater than any written word, but The Telegraph have fleshed out the details:

Adriane Cirilo dos Pintos, 20, was wounded in her left hand and required surgery after the incident outside a Rio de Janeiro nightclub.

Ex-Inter Milan forward Adriano, 29, was reportedly leaving a party with four young women at Barra Music club at around 6am on Christmas Eve.

Ms Pinto told police the footballer was fooling around with his bodyguard's .44 calibre pistol in the back seat of his BMW when it accidentally went off.

Rio police sergeant Amilton Dias told Brazil's Record TV that the footballer had taken out the gun's magazine and was showing off to the women, who he was taking back to his home, but didn't realise there was still a bullet lodged inside the barrel.

The controversy-courting 29-year-old Corinthians striker denies Ms Pinto's version of events, claiming that he was sitting in the front seat of the car and never touched the bodyguard's gun, which was positioned under the driver's seat. The other ladies in the car also contested the wounded woman's version of events, claiming that she actually shot herself in the hand to attract publicity.

The results of a ballistics report of the incident should clear things up when they are released next week, but for now it would be interesting to hear from Adriano's bodyguard, and how he felt it wise to let people who have just left a nightclub after a night of partying handle his loaded gun.

Even if Adriano's downward-spiraling career has marred by weight gain, addiction, depression and various legal troubles in the past few years, it's good to see that it has had little affect on his love life. Taking four ladies home from a nightclub? That's pretty good form, even if one of them accuses you of shooting them.